


Cosmo

by huxley



Category: 2 Broke Girls
Genre: F/F, Femslash, First Kiss, Fluff, Sexual Tension, Wordcount: 1.000-3.000, Yuletide 2011
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-16
Updated: 2011-12-16
Packaged: 2017-10-27 10:18:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/294648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huxley/pseuds/huxley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Caroline gets something she didn't even know she wanted for her birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cosmo

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WhatBecomesOfYou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatBecomesOfYou/gifts).



When Caroline announced her arrival home with a squeal of frustration, Max looked around from the kitchen sink and barked out a laugh.

“You told him, didn’t you?” she asked, up to her elbows in washing up.

Caroline shuddered and pulled off her coat.

“I didn’t have to tell him! Han had it marked down on the calendar and told Oleg before I could get to him.”

“Well, I warned you – never let that man know when it’s your birthday.” Max pulled the plug out of the sink and dried her hands. “Did he offer you the ‘Oleg Birthday Surprise’?”

“Do I even want to know what this is?”

“What do _you_ think?”

Caroline grimaced and headed to the bathroom, desperate for a shower and a change of clothes.

When she re-emerged later in her pyjamas, she found Max sitting on the couch with a plate of cupcakes on her lap, a single candle flickering in one of them. Caroline stared in surprise and Max rolled her eyes.

“I _am_ capable of the odd act of decency!”

Caroline laughed and sat down beside her.

“I don’t know what to say! They look great, Max.” And they did – freshly made with thick, pink frosting and plenty of red sprinkles.

She leaned down and took a deep breath, but paused before she could blow out the candle.

“Aren’t you going to sing?” she asked.

Max glared at her.

“Never mind,” she said quickly. She blew out the candle and sent swirls of smoke up around their heads, feeling that slight giddiness she only got from blowing out birthday cakes.

“You’d better appreciate these,” Max said, handing her a cupcake. “The amount of pink involved almost gave me a headache.”

“It’s very much appreciated,” Caroline smiled, carefully peeling the casing away from the cake. “What are they, strawberry?”

“Cosmopolitan,” Max said around a mouthful of cake.

“They’re _what_?”

Max swallowed and wiped her lips with her thumb.

“I know you’re used to expensive bars and cocktails on your birthday and I’m sure it’s _killing_ you not being able to afford it this year,” she smirked. “So I bought a few cheap ingredients and whipped these up, instead.”

“So there’s actual alcohol in these?” Caroline asked, staring at the cupcake.

“Yep. Found the recipe online. I just Googled ‘ridiculous crap Paris Hilton would have at her birthday party’. But!“ - she continued, before Caroline could protest - “it means we get to enjoy the leftover ingredients!” She reached around behind the sofa and produced bottles of vodka and cranberry juice.

“Where’s the Cointreau and lime?” Caroline laughed, trying and failing to ignore the cheap label on the vodka bottle.

“Nowhere I shop at sells that stuff,” said Max with a dismissive wave of her hand, “so I adjusted the recipe a bit.”

Caroline raised her eyebrows and bit into the cupcake a little hesitantly.

“Oh my _God_ ,” she mumbled around her mouthful. “These are amazing!” The cake was soft and moist, the frosting sweet with just a hint of the sharp tang of alcohol behind it. The effect was unusual but delicious and she took another bite.

“You know,” Caroline said, wiping the crumbs from her pyjamas and curling up on the couch, “this is seriously the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me on my birthday.”

Max snorted.

“Yeah right. More thoughtful than the diamonds and the champagne and whatever else you type of people get on your birthday?”

“Yeah, all that was great,” Caroline said slowly, “but it was just... _stuff_ , you know?”

“Yes. And stuff is _good_.”

Caroline had to admit she had a point.

“But it all comes with baggage,” she insisted. “My birthdays were always so stressful and I spent the whole day worrying. Which of my friends would start drama at the party? Would my Dad even show up? How many outfit changes would be enough?”

Max rolled her eyes and Caroline held up a hand before the scathing remark could leave her mouth.

“I know it all sounds ridiculous, but when I look back on it, those are the things I can't help but remember. But this year? I think I’ll remember how lovely this was, rather than just what I wore on the day or who bought me the most expensive gift. So...thank you.”

Max took a deep breath and shook her head.

“I think I need to be drunk for this,” she said, reaching for the bottle of vodka.

*

An hour later and the cupcakes were gone, along with the rest of the vodka. Caroline stretched out along the couch, her legs entangled with Max’s and the buzz of alcohol making her sleepy.

“Can you believe this is the first year I’ve been single on my birthday since I was fourteen?” she asked, pointing her empty glass in Max’s direction.

Max sniggered and shook her head.

“The bottles are empty, Princess. “

“Damn.” Caroline braced herself on the arm of the couch and reached over to put her glass back on the table, swearing as she almost missed.

“And no, it doesn’t surprise me that you’ve spent most of your life in relationships,” said Max. “You’re every guy’s wet dream; you’re a walking, talking Barbie doll. _Better_ than my Barbie dolls were, actually, seeing as they were from Goodwill and already had all their hair chopped off.”

Caroline slumped back down into the couch and sighed. It wasn’t the first time she had heard the comparison.

“But that’s just it,” she said. “Guys see the blonde hair and the fact that I’m a Channing and couldn’t care less about what I’m actually like. Well,” she laughed, rolling her eyes, “at least I won’t have to worry about guys coming after me for my name anymore, huh?”

“You’re asking the wrong person for advice,” said Max. “Every guy I’ve ever been with has just gotten a look at the girls and it’s a done deal.” She grasped her breasts in her hands and shrugged. “Besides, you’re looking at someone whose last boyfriend cheated on her with a tambourine player. Not to mention the fact that Johnny was a total bust.”

Max dropped her head back against the couch and stared at the ceiling. Caroline was suddenly sorry for bringing down the mood. She straightened up, blinking a little as her vision swam, and grasped Max by the arm.

“Those two were just bad luck,” she said, stroking her thumb along Max’s wrist. “You’re a knockout! It’s just a matter of time.”

Max huffed out a laugh and smiled.

“Yeah. And we’re cool by ourselves for a while, right?”

“Right.” Caroline was close enough to touch the dark curls of Max’s hair. Her fingers twitched with the desire to brush them back over her shoulder, but she resisted. She wondered if she could chance a hug and blame it on the alcohol.

The moment of silence stretched between them and Max met her eyes, Caroline’s thumb still softly grazing her skin. Max mistook Caroline’s widening eyes and sharp intake of breath for a side effect of the alcohol and pushed her back with a laugh.

“I think you need water,” she said, reaching over her to grab her empty glass. Her hair hung in a curtain around Caroline's head and before she had time to think, she had tilted her face up and pressed her lips against Max’s mouth.

Max froze, her hand on the glass and her breath soft and warm against Caroline’s cheek.

“What was that for?” she asked, her voice a little higher than usual.

Caroline closed her eyes and shook her head, lifting a hand to rub across her forehead. She felt a headache coming on and through the haze of alcohol muddling her thoughts, she wondered what the hell she had been thinking.

“Just – just to say thank you, I guess,” she said finally. When she opened her eyes Max was looking down at her, her eyelids heavy. Caroline shifted beneath her, suddenly self-conscious.

“Don’t mention it,” Max whispered.

Their lips met again and Caroline gasped. She lifted her head and pressed into the kiss, Max’s full lips pressing against her own with more insistence than Caroline would have dared. Caroline’s hand hovered in the air for a moment before dropping onto Max’s shoulder, running up the curve of her neck and into her hair.

Max made a soft sound into her mouth and deepened the kiss, laying a hand on Caroline’s jaw and tilting her head, licking softly across her bottom lip and sliding inside when Caroline parted her lips.

Caroline’s heart thudded in her ears so loudly that she wondered how Max couldn’t hear it. Her hand tightened in Max’s hair and her legs curled around the back of her thighs, testing the unfamiliar sensation of smooth skin against her cheek, the dips and soft curves of Max’s body on top of her.

Max pulled back, breathless, and sighed against Caroline’s cheek, their chests rising and falling in unison.

“You smell far too good to have showered using anything that could possibly have been in my bathroom,” said Max, her voice shaking over a laugh. Her fingers trailed over the neckline of Caroline’s pyjamas, sending the skin across her collarbones tingling.

“Well I dipped into our fund and blew a whole eight dollars on some body wash. Hope you don’t mind.”

Max’s eyes were bright as she searched Caroline’s face, the few inches of air between their lips hot with their shared breath.

“I guess I can forgive you,” Max said. She glanced away suddenly and pushed back to sit between Caroline’s legs, Caroline’s hand slipping down her body as she moved. Max brushed a nervous hand back through her hair and she bent to retrieve their empty glasses.

“I’m going to hit the sack,” she said. “I’m due at Peach’s early tomorrow.” She looked at Caroline with something not unlike regret in her eyes and Caroline gave a slow nod.

“No problem,” she said. Her bare legs shifted against Max’s hips and Caroline didn’t miss the flutter of Max’s eyelashes. They looked at each other for a moment before Max finally pushed herself off the couch and headed to the kitchen.

Caroline hid her face in her hands and breathed deeply, listening to the sounds of Max tidying up. She shivered, suddenly cold, and got unsteadily to her feet. She was pulling out her bed when Max finished and headed to her room.

“Sleep tight, birthday girl,” she said, pausing on her way past. Caroline fluffed up her pillows and replied as casually as she could force herself to, avoiding Max's eyes. She held her breath, relaxing at the sound of Max’s door closing.

Caroline climbed into bed and curled her arms around herself, staring into the darkness. The taste of alcohol was still in her mouth, mingled with the faint remnants of Max’s lipstick. She rolled onto her back with a groan, all notions of sleep gone and more confused since her father broke the news of their disgrace to her.

A beam of light from under Max’s bedroom door shot across the floor and Caroline stared at it, eyes wide and pulse quickening, listening, _hoping_ for the sound of Max’s door opening again. She started at a sudden noise but frowned as she recognised it as merely the creak of a floorboard.

She counted down slowly from ten, her body tense and fighting the urge to climb out of bed.

Caroline made herself wait until she reached one before getting up. She paused outside Max’s bedroom, shifting her weight from one foot to the other with her knuckles resting on the door. When she heard the sound of bedsprings she gave a sharp knock.

“It’s open,” called Max.

Caroline bit her lip and went in, her mind already racing with possible excuses she could make for her presence, her nails digging grooves into her palms.

“I don’t know why I’m here,” she said in a rush. Max looked up at her from her bed, her head tilted to one side. Caroline laughed at herself and folded her arms across her chest.

“I do,” said Max, pulling back the covers with a grin.


End file.
